Series:

Traditional Asian Arts in Southern California

Topic:

Music

Asian American History

Biographical Note:

Founder and director of the Korean Classical Music and Dance Company and UCLA faculty member in ethnomusicology.

Interviewer:

Cline, Alex

Interviewee:

Kim, DongSuk

Persons Present:

Kim and Cline.

Place Conducted:

Kim's home in Buena Park, California.

Supporting Documents:

Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.

Interviewer Background and Preparation:

The interview was conducted by Alex Cline, UCLA Library Center for Oral History Research. Cline has spent a considerable amount of his career as a jazz drummer/musician in Los Angeles.

Processing of Interview:

The interviewer prepared a timed log of the audio recording of the interview.

Length:

4.5 hrs.

Language:

English

Copyright:

Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.

Audio:

Series Statement:

The Traditional Asian Arts in Southern California series focuses on both immigrants and second- or third-generation Asian Americans who have continued East Asian or Southeast Asian musical, dance, and performance traditions in Southern California. Some preserved their art form by adhering to the traditional forms of their disciplines, while others incorporated elements from Western arts and culture.

During the time of the Japanese occupation, Kim’s parents flee back and forth between North and South Korea —Father’s family background—Mother’s family background—Kim’s father dies when Kim is twelve years old—Places the Kim family took refuge during the Korean War—Mother supports the family through a number of jobs and businesses—Kim attends elementary school in Seoul, where he stays with his father—Weekends at home with his mother—His relationship with his father—His early interest and strength in singing and music—Kim’s early exposure to Korean and Western music—Religious background of Kim’s family—Seoul during the years he attended school there—First encounters with foreigners as a youth—Anti-North Korean propaganda in school—On a full scholarship, Kim is trained in Korean traditional music and dance and Western classical music—Testing required to be accepted into the school—The school’s curriculum—School life after Kim’s father died—He excels as a dancer at his school—He chooses to concentrate on playing the kayagum—Non-musical subjects that Kim enjoyed as a student—Relationship with older brother—The low status of artists playing traditional music in South Korea during the sixties—Reasons many students left school before finishing—Kim's school’s history and student body—Changes in South Korea during the Park Chung-hee revolution—The basic philosophical foundation the school provided its students—After a few years, the school begins accepting girls as students of traditional Korean music—Kim’s mentor and father figure—Mentor introduces Korean folk music and dance into the school’s curriculum—Kim attends Seoul National University as a composition and theory major—In accordance with the university’s mandate, Kim studies cello and piano along with the rest of his music studies—His response to the increased popularity of Western pop music in Seoul at the time—Enlists in the Korean army and enters the university’s reserve officer training program—When Kim graduates from the university with a degree in music theory, his desire is to continue his music studies in the United States—The death of his mother—Upon being released from army duty near the demilitarized zone (DMZ), Kim secures some teaching positions—He is hired as music director for the Little Angels performance group, which sends him to the U.S. on tour—Kim's relative isolation during his stint in the army during the late sixties.

Kim’s job teaching kayagum at a girls' high school after his stint in the Korean army—More on the shift that led to female participation in performing traditional Korean music—The variety of students Kim was able to meet via Seoul National University’s reserve officers' training program—His early release from army duty near the demilitarized zone (DMZ)—More on being hired as music director for the Little Angels—First impressions of the U.S. upon arriving for the Little Angels tour—Kim is sponsored by an agent from Columbia Artists Management to come to the U.S. to study at UCLA—The Little Angels perform for President Richard M. Nixon in 1969—Kim’s feelings about the U.S. and Americans as a result of his tour experience—Americans’ general lack of awareness at the time of what and where Korea was—Kim’s lack of awareness of the Unification Church’s activities or doctrine during his employment by them to direct the Little Angels—Experience touring Japan with the Little Angels—Kim comes to Los Angeles as a student in 1971 but can’t afford the tuition at UCLA, sending him into the L.A. workplace to survive—Marries in 1972—Begins attending the United Korean Methodist Church on Robertson Boulevard, where many Korean immigrants congregated at the time—Feeling isolated and desperate, briefly becomes a dental technician—Helps establish the Korean Classical Music Institute in America and begins performing Korean traditional music and dance around L.A. in the 1970s—Early core members of the institute and its performing group—Receives a California Education and Training (CETA) grant and begins performing regularly with the newly renamed Korean Ethnic Heritage ensemble—Kim and his wife purchase a 7-Eleven mini-mart franchise in Rosemead, where they work and raise their first child—The beginning of the Korean immigrant population boom in L.A. and the beginnings of Koreatown—Korean Ethnic Heritage begins to get constant work through the Los Angeles Unifies School District’s Intercultural Awareness Program, Performing Tree, and the Music Center on Tour—The Kim family moves out to Ontario but commutes to L.A. for Korean community activities—Reasons Kim didn’t return to South Korea to work—Because he pursues traditional Korean music and dance, Kim’s approach is considered to be more authentic—His struggles with frustration and depression while continuing to work, perform, and teach—His deep involvement in his church leads him to pursue a master’s degree in choral conducting from Hope International University—The difference the church has made in his life—Changes Kim has seen in South Korea—Southern California Korean immigrants' perceptions of North Korea and Kim’s travels there—The Kims adopt a son from Korea in 1997.

The small Asian population in Ontario when the Kims lived there—The steady increase in the tempo of traditional Korean music over the past few decades—The importance of having a strong foundation in a music’s tradition before diverging from it—The types of people who tend to become Kim’s private students—How Kim wound up traveling to North Korea in 1989 to study the evolution of traditional Korean music—Ways traditional music and instruments changed in North Korea—Kim makes multiple trips to North Korea to stay in contact with a relative there—His views on life and musical development in North Korea—Efforts Korean Americans made to help starving people in North Korea and the local reaction to such efforts—Kim presents North Korean music and its distinctive features to the Korean American community in L.A.—His radio broadcasts—The gradual increase in young Koreans’ awareness of their traditional music—Increase in global awareness of Korea and its culture after the 1988 Olympics in Seoul—Kim becomes an adjunct faculty member at UCLA in 1997 and expands the Department of Ethnomusicology’s Korean music program—His students at UCLA—Non-Koreans who play traditional Korean music—How Korean music is based on the breathing rhythm rather than the heartbeat rhythm like Western music—The people Kim considers most likely to succeed him—His feelings about divided Korea and the idea of reunification—The degree of freedom he experienced during his visits to North Korea—Kim’s adopted son from Seoul—His daughter and grandchildren—His feeling that he, as a Korean, is more accepted in American society now than when he first immigrated—Korean immigrants’ contribution to the culture and economy of the L.A. area—Kim’s memories and feelings about the 1992 Los Angeles riots and their impact on the Korean American community—His view of himself as primarily a human being bringing the beauty of Korean culture to Americans—How he stays physically fit—The music he enjoys listening to—The future of traditional Korean music and of the Korean American community.